Headliner adhesive that works?

[Judson]

Folks - I used the Permatex 27828 Body Shop heavy duty headliner adhesive and it failed inside a hot car within a week (sitting at the airport).

Can anyone recommend an adhesive that will work? I don't want to have to deal with this again.

Thanks!

Jud.

 

[oilhammer]

I have the professionals do it, they use something in a spray gun that is I think heated.

 

[Genesis]

3M Headliner adhesive.

Accept no substitutes.

Did the '03 about five years ago with it and its still fine. Did my Suburban about a year back, same stuff, still fine. Both are parked outdoors and get hotter than Hell in the summer.

Surface prep on the headliner is important and you do have to follow the instructions, of course. Be warned that for MOST vehicles this is a two-person job unless you've done a bunch of them; it CAN be done single-handed (I have) but the risk goes up a lot, and if you screw it up stripping it back off and re-cleaning the substrate is NOT easy, never mind needing another roll of headliner material and more adhesive.

Get two cans for a Jetta Wagon or similar; a sedan is probably one. I used nearly all of three on the Suburban.

 

[Judson]

Well I don’t have time or money right now to re-do the whole thing. Just need to keep the fabric up in the right rear. I will look for that 3m stuff and may even try two side tape for the time being.
Thanks!
Jud

 

[JB05]

Headliner twisters is what I used on my Golf. Used 30 of them.

 

[valvecrusher]

The reason your first attempt failed, is that the material foam itself that the fabric is bonded to is deteriorating.

When you re-glued it, the glue stuck, but the material itself broke down and fell.(same reason it originally fell)

A proper repair would involve removing headliner Board, scraping all the old foam off....then re-glue a new piece of headliner fabric with attached foam to the old Headliner Board....

Not a single glue will resolve a failing OEM headliner, it MUST be replaced and reglued.

If you don't have time for all that, a good temporary fix is thumb tacks, since eventually you will repair it correctly?

If you clean old foam off the board, then your original adhesive probably would have been fine.

I use Super Trim Adhesive....

 

[Judson]

Valvecrusher - thanks for the explanation. A guy on youtube recommended a stapler as a temporary solution. I’m going to try that next….

 

[Rxfire]

these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GQFTG3K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Judson]

Nice!

only needed a few staples in the right places, so it’s good for now. I like those twisty pins though and will probably pick up a batch.

 

[Genesis]

Ah I missed where he didn't remove the headliner and recover it.

Yeah, once they start to delaminate from the foam that's not the adhesive that failed, its the material. The only real fix is to remove and do it right.

 

[KLXD]

I missed that too. Probably because he didn't mention it. I'm surprised it lasted a whole week.

 

[mrGutWrench]

Ah I missed where he didn't remove the headliner and recover it.

Yeah, once they start to delaminate from the foam that's not the adhesive that failed, its the material. The only real fix is to remove and do it right.

Yes, my experience, exactly.

 

[Zak99b5]

This thread keeps popping up reminding me that I have to do my headliner (currently stapled up).

I read here that acetone is good at dissolving the foam. Do I use a wire brush or a stiff plastic bristle scrub brush? Not sure how stout the backing piece is; I think it’s something like jute.

 

[BobnOH]

Acetone is wicked bad ass cleaner. I would not use a brush. A scrub pad or just a rag, so you don't get it flying around. Wipe it on, scrape as needed, Rinse.

 

[Genesis]

This thread keeps popping up reminding me that I have to do my headliner (currently stapled up).

I read here that acetone is good at dissolving the foam. Do I use a wire brush or a stiff plastic bristle scrub brush? Not sure how stout the backing piece is; I think it’s something like jute.

I have a brass wire wheel on my cordless drill that I use (CAREFULLY! DO NOT use it around any openings; it can catch and rip the backing) and a paint/rust stripping hand tool (sort of like a grill cleaner) for the margins and around holes. It takes a while.

 

[ekincaid]

3M Headliner adhesive.

I second this. It worked great for me.

 

[tleader]

This works really well, but cost more and needs a spray gun for application.

Weldwood Contact Adhesive

 

[hskrdu]

I pulled my '03 Golf headliner a few days ago and had it recovered yesterday at an upholstery shop. I was gonna DIY, but it was less than half price if you pulled it out yourself, and reasonable in the time/cost comparison. If I do the '03 Jetta that's still in the family, I wouldn't use acetone, but wire wheel/hand clean the backing which has degraded. I've tried the 3M products on some sections without long-term success
and after talking to the upholstery shop, the adhesive they use is in a different league.

 

[Zak99b5]

all the talk about adhesives and their somewhat common failures has me thinking.

Has anyone tried (after cleaning) some other kind of coating as a finish? Say bed liner or rubberized undercoating? I’ve got no idea what the backing looks like after it’s stripped. Or am I just an idiot?

 

[JETaah]

all the talk about adhesives and their somewhat common failures has me thinking.

Has anyone tried (after cleaning) some other kind of coating as a finish? Say bed liner or rubberized undercoating? I’ve got no idea what the backing looks like after it’s stripped. Or am I just an idiot?

Try "fine Corinthian leather"


Kidding aside...
If the headliner backer is anything like the door card inserts it is a pretty stout fiberglass-like material. I removed the glue from a few NB door inserts and it held up well to xylene and scraping to get it down to a solid surface that you could apply glue to or whatever. The door backer kind of resembles particle board when stripped. If bedliner is the look you could go for I imagine it could support that well. There are many tutorials on Youtube by auto upholstery pros (and some not so pros, too) on dealing with VW door cards and headliners and how they approach the renewal process.

 

[J_dude]

all the talk about adhesives and their somewhat common failures has me thinking.

Has anyone tried (after cleaning) some other kind of coating as a finish? Say bed liner or rubberized undercoating? I’ve got no idea what the backing looks like after it’s stripped. Or am I just an idiot?

Now this is a neat idea! My headliner isn’t bad yet, just in the inset areas where the visors fold up, but I may try that once it does get bad

 

[hskrdu]

For the MkIV: The headliner consists of three primary pieces: the backing, the foam liner attached to the fabric, and the fabric itself. The fabric and foam are attached to the backing by glue, but the glue itself often is not the failure, it's the disintegration of the foam, which allows the fabric to droop. The fabric gets peeled away, the remnants of the foam removed, and the backing cleaned up to receive new fabric/fabric+foam. The headliner backing is (IMO) not like door card inserts, and will bend and crease under its own weight, and can tear if caught on anything when being lowered or removed. Any heavy rubberized spray coating, separate from concerns over "inside" use, could easily weigh down the headliner backing. The vortex does have lots of creative solutions, and there's a whole thread of headliner projects over there, but I wouldn't pick bedliner as a top choice.

 

[Zak99b5]

Ok good to know. My plan has been to find some lightweight fleece at JoAnns that stretches. I already have the 3M spray adhesive. just need to find a day or two.

 

[mjydrafter]

When I did mine i got the headliner material at Hobby Lobby (Joann was out).

The main thing is weight, HL material is very light weight.

For adhesive, 3M HL adhesive. (as mentioned above, sounds like you have it). My son got some on his first try, and I didn't catch that it wasn't HL adhesive (just regular 3m stuff), and it fell down in about 2 days..

We carefully run a grinder/wire wheel to get the old adhesive/foam off the HL board.

I think between my son and I, we've done 3 or 4. All wagons, maybe one sedan. Wagons are easier.

Hardest part is up by the sunroof/visors, lots of shape/contours.

Get good razor blades.

 

[JETaah]

What? No one is opting for shag carpet headliner?
I’ve had a A4 Jetta come in with red, yellow, and black plaid flannel headliner. He seemed to like it.

 

[valvecrusher]

all the talk about adhesives and their somewhat common failures has me thinking.

Has anyone tried (after cleaning) some other kind of coating as a finish? Say bed liner or rubberized undercoating? I’ve got no idea what the backing looks like after it’s stripped. Or am I just an idiot?

The headliner is foam for a specific reason.

When you flip the car, (or wild roll, launch of car, high energy/velocity event, etc)
the headliner provides a 'soft' cushioned depth of material to dampen the impact spike of your crown(top of skull) to the roof.
Get it? It's a HEAD-liner.

Basically, it's a cushion to protect your head, neck and spinal column when impacting the roof during a crash.


I would strongly recommend NOT deleting this safety feature.


I always thought an airbag covering the headliner area would be even better, but I dont' engineer automobile design.

 

[KLXD]

I don't think 1/4" of foam is much protection. I think it's used because it's cheap.

 

[JETaah]

The headliner is foam for a specific reason.

When you flip the car, (or wild roll, launch of car, high energy/velocity event, etc)
the headliner provides a 'soft' cushioned depth of material to dampen the impact spike of your crown(top of skull) to the roof.
Get it? It's a HEAD-liner.

Basically, it's a cushion to protect your head, neck and spinal column when impacting the roof during a crash.


I would strongly recommend NOT deleting this safety feature.


I always thought an airbag covering the headliner area would be even better, but I dont' engineer automobile design.

I'd like to see data to back that claim up.

 

[muzy]

It gives a degree of protection. It's not bare steel with sharp edges and crap.
Will there be a manufacturing code? Doubt it. The standard is likly set by your wallet.
Cheers

 

[hskrdu]

The headliner is foam for a specific reason.
When you flip the car, (or wild roll, launch of car, high energy/velocity event, etc)
the headliner provides a 'soft' cushioned depth of material to dampen the impact spike of your crown(top of skull) to the roof.
Get it? It's a HEAD-liner.
Basically, it's a cushion to protect your head, neck and spinal column when impacting the roof during a crash.
I would strongly recommend NOT deleting this safety feature.

IMHO the headliner provides zero protection, and is not intended to provide crash protection in any way.